Rio Chiba Review

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Small on the outside, big on the inside, and good all over.

By M. Wiley

Rio is really rolling these days. The Karma and Nitrus have both done well for the company and the 2004 line shown at CES was damn impressive. (Of course, you wouldn't know that because Rio brought the goods to the show only to tell reporters that they couldn't write about them until spring.) This is the first flash player I've reviewed from the "new" Rio, meaning since the brand was dumped by SONICblue and scooped up by DNNA. And if anything it proves to me that Rio is on point.

As you can see in the picture with the lighter and phone, the Chiba is a fairly compact player. It measures 2.7" x 2.4" x .8" and weighs 1.8 ounces. These dimensions cover the widest and longest points, which is important because of the wild shape. You can easily hold it in pants pockets, jacket pocket, or any other pocket. I carried mine around the city for a few days and except for the earbuds in my sound holes I barely noticed I had it on me. While it's fairly larger than the smallest flash players it is still portable enough for any user. You can also snap it into the hard rubber carrying case and clip it to a belt or pocket. I think carrying cases look silly, but this one is as discrete as they get.

The design is... unique. I don't really like or dislike it, but it is distinct. The left side of the front is mostly used for the blue backlit LCD with a 96 x 64 resolution. To the right of the LCD are two controls: a menu button and the familiar red four-way joystick. The far right side of the front is covered by a thin layer of hard rubber, which makes it comfortable in hand. It might not look like it, but the design makes the Chiba very comfortable in your hand.

The top edge of the player has a power button, hold switch, and volume seesaw. The volume seesaw is deeply scalloped, so it's easy to use without looking. You might remember that the Nitrus has two very small buttons, which made volume control tricky. This is a much better solution. Volume response time is average, with no annoying hang time.

On the bottom of the player are the AC jack and USB 1.1 port. I realize that this is "only" a 256MB player, but USB 2.0 would have been much nicer, especially considering the expansion slot. I don't know how much the license for USB 2.0 would have increased the price, but I doubt it would have been enough to have a very dramatic effect on the price. It would have also given Rio some bragging rights. You know, the most equipped flash player or something.

Half of the back panel is removable. Under it you'll find a single AAA compartment and an SD/MMC slot. You must extract the battery in order to access the slot, a la the N-Gage. This is a questionable design, but swapping out cards won't be a daily activity for most users. Installing an expansion slot really adds a lot of value to these little players. It keeps the price down because the company doesn't have to install expensive flash memory, but it gives the option to users. SD is not only the only format that would have fit in the Chiba, but also the dominant portable memory format.

The only bummer about the back panel is that it comes off mush to easily. I discovered this as soon as I started using the Chiba and it is a real pain in the ass. I have a hunch, however, that I got a slightly defective unit. The little clasp feels a bit flattened. Mine comes off when the wind blows. The other reason I think mine is flawed is that the build quality of the unit as a whole is above average. I wouldn't say it's bulletproof, but it will take some abuse.

Rio had to cut out some advanced menu options, but they kept the basic architecture. This makes it very easy to navigate content and control settings for both playback and hardware. The iPod interface is extremely efficient, but Rio is right there with Apple, and certainly ahead of anyone else. In this respect, like Brother Ali, they have few equals and no superiors. Check the menu.

Play Music: Play All, Play Track (browse for one track during playback), and Playlists (edit existing playlists)

As for power and sound quality the Chiba is about on par with the Nitrus. It is just loud enough, but a bit more juice would be ideal. What is there, however, sounds excellent. Walking around in the city the output was plenty strong enough, but a few times on buses I was maxed out without knowing it. It's not good for the ears, but more output would be nice. Maybe they can make a downloadable headphone amp executable? Hardy har har.

In the preview I mistakenly said that the Chiba didn't have an FM tuner. It does. Reception is above average. The important thin here is that, with the tuner, the only things missing are voice recording and FM recording. Of course, we all want everything, but the Chiba has enough going for it that these don't really foul the score.

Rio claims 18 hours from a single AAA battery. I suppose this is possible at moderate volume levels with no backlight, but I hit about 16 hours.

Lastly, and sadly, the Chiba requires software for operation. The Rio site brags that you can use it to transfer files between computers. This is true, but only after a software installation. The Rio Music Manager is used for music transfers and the Rio Taxi is used for data transfer. The Taxi software is easy enough to use, but requiring drivers really cuts down on the usefulness of the device as a data device. (You can still take music from the player and put it on another computer through the Rio Music Manager.) No drivers are always the best drivers.

Conclusion

I wouldn't exactly call the Chiba "next-generation," but it certainly has what it takes to keep with the current and just-around-the-corner flash portables. It's extremely small, very light, has nice internal storage, and has an expansion slot. Add the excellent Rio menu system and you see the draw of the Chiba. This is another solid entry from the new Rio and it deserves consideration by anyone looking for a flash player.